69

The night was suffocating.

Selene lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, her body stiff as if she were trapped in stone. Sleep refused to come. Her mind was a battlefield, torn between what she had said and what she truly felt.

Kieran’s voice haunted her.

"I can’t stop thinking about you."

Selene squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her knuckles against her mouth to stifle a scream.

She had spent so long convincing herself that she had moved on—that what they had was a distant past, a broken thing that could never be mended. But Kieran wasn’t letting her forget.

And worse?

She wasn’t sure she wanted to.

A sharp knock at the door made her jolt.

She sat up, heart hammering.

Not Kieran. Please, not Kieran.

She wasn’t ready to face him again.

But when she opened the door—

It wasn’t Kieran.

It was Lucian.

His golden eyes burned into hers, intense and unreadable. He was dressed in his usual black, his presence a dark storm against the flickering torchlight in the hall.

Selene swallowed hard. “Lucian?”

His gaze flickered over her, assessing. “You look like hell.”

She let out a humorless laugh. “Thanks.”

Lucian didn’t return the amusement. Instead, he leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed. “I need to talk to you.”

Selene hesitated, then stepped aside.

Lucian walked in, his movements fluid, predatory.

He turned to her the moment the door clicked shut.

“You’re slipping, Selene.”

Her stomach clenched. “Excuse me?”

Lucian took a slow step toward her. “You’re distracted.”

Selene folded her arms. “I’m fine.”

Lucian’s sharp gaze pinned her. “Are you?”

She held his stare, but something about it made her feel… exposed.

Lucian exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. “This is about Kieran, isn’t it?”

Selene tensed.

Lucian’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I thought so.”

She turned away. “It’s none of your business.”

Lucian’s voice was quiet, but it carried weight. “Everything about you is my business.”

Selene’s fingers curled into fists.

Lucian moved closer, his voice dropping lower. “You think I don’t see it? The way he looks at you? The way you let him look at you?”

Selene spun to face him. “And what exactly do you expect me to do, Lucian?”

His expression darkened. “Cut him off. Shut him out. End this.”

Selene’s breath caught.

Lucian held her gaze, unrelenting. “If you don’t, you’ll tear yourself apart.”

A thick silence settled between them.

Then—

Lucian’s voice dropped even lower. “And I won’t let that happen.”

Selene’s pulse stuttered.

She knew Lucian was intense, but this… this was something else.

Something dangerous.

But before she could respond, Lucian turned, his jaw tight.

“We leave for the council meeting at dawn,” he said. “Get some sleep.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Selene let out a shaky breath, collapsing onto the bed.

But sleep never came.

Because Lucian was right.

She was slipping.

And if she wasn’t careful—

She was going to fall.